News Archive

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Little Preparation For Washington
July 28 2002
By Bryan Hersh of 49ers Paradise
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The 49ers first pre-season game is now about a week away (give or take a bit - darn International Date Line), and the 49ers are doing little to prepare for the opponents they will face in Osaka Japan during the American Bowl. The 49ers will dedicate nearly a week to traveling across the world, orientating themselves with the country, playing in the game, and returning home. Clearly this game will disturb the teamís regular training.

Actually, one of the reasons why the team is focusing so little on its opponent is because of the imminent interruption in their schedule. Steve Mariucci and his staff feel that the training camp time would be much better served actually teaching the team the play book, and working on improvements in that fashion.

Mariucci has also stated that game planning for Steve Spurrierís team would be virtually impossible given that Spurrier has never played a NFL game. Scouting college games would hardly be worth the effort.

So as the team gets ready for its eleven hour flight to the other side of the world, Mariucci will have his staff focus on regular camp training techniques rather than on game planning for the up-coming opponent. The game will also be the first full contract exhibition that the 2002 49ers will take part in, as Mariucci does not believe in tackling during practice.